


Take a chill pill (Or not)

by timeloop



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Domestic, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Minor Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, a very very little bit of angst by Clint, falling sick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-14
Updated: 2014-03-14
Packaged: 2018-01-15 16:33:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1311634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timeloop/pseuds/timeloop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From avengerkink: There are a lot of sick!Clint and sick!Tony prompts, so anon would like to combine the two: Clint and Tony are both sick. What happens next? Do they both hide separately and exasperate/freak out the team? Does the team (or any one person) take care of them both? <br/>...Or do they both just snuggle up and fall asleep together? (hint: yes :P)</p><p>http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/18271.html?replyto=41955423</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at filling a prompt. Yeah.
> 
> Unbeta'd so all mistakes are my own.

Clint's throat felt uncomfortable. There was a ticklish sensation lining his throat, irritating the hell out of him. He coughed a few times, earning a concerned look from Bruce who had been startled by his sudden noise. The other man glanced at him from above his glasses.

“Are you alright? That sounded pretty bad.”

Clint turned away to rub at his throat before saying, “Yeah, I’m good. It’s probably dust or something.”

He could feel Bruce’s eyes fixed on him even though his back was turned. Bruce continued casually, “I’ve heard that honey mixed with lemon works well for sore throats.” There was a moment where only the scratching of a pencil on paper could be heard, before Clint snapped his head back to give Bruce a scandalized look. He never liked being reminded of how human he was in comparison to the rest of them. It meant that he had vulnerabilities, that he could be a liability, and Clint really did not enjoy thinking about what that meant about his position in the team.

The other man just shrugged and said, “I’m just saying, no need to be so defensive.” He picked up his papers and headed for the elevator as another cough escaped from Clint’s mouth. This caused Bruce to wave his hand and say, “Honey and lemon, Clint. Don’t be stubborn,” before being swallowed up by the elevator.

Clint rationalized that he was a human _,_ but not just _any_ human, he was _at the peak of physical condition goddammit,_ and minor things like an itchy feeling in his throat was _not_ going to make him drink whatever weird concoction that Bruce suggested. So he ignored the itchy feeling lingering in his throat and stared back at his stack of paperwork, signing in his name a little more forcefully than necessary.

 _________________________________

Tony sneezed. The sudden movement caused his arm to shake and solder a circuit into the wrong position. He glared at the board, having half a mind to snap it in half because he had been working on this for the past two hours only to have it ruined. Making a sound that sounded very much like ‘argh’, he ran a hand through his hair and waited for Dummy to roll over with a new board.

“Good boy. Now shoo.” He nudged the robot away with a foot.

Clearing a space on the crowded table by pushing everything off into a black storage unit, he placed the new circuit board in front of him. Picking up the soldering gun, he let out a breath and steadied his hand, preparing to melt the metal. Just as the tip of the gun touched the board, he let out another sneeze that instinctively caused him to shut his eyes and solder the circuit into the wrong position.

"Fuck!" he cried out as he jammed the gun back into its holder.

Leaning back in his chair, he rubbed his face with his hand. It felt slightly warmer than usual.

He asked, "JARVIS, did you turn the heat up?"

"No Sir, temperature has been kept constant ever since you walked in."

Tony let out a huff of breath before saying, "Huh." He could have sworn it was at least 10 degrees hotter.

"Would you like me to run a body scan? Considering your previous actions, you may be down with the flu, Sir."

"No, I'm fine. Just tired. How long have I been here anyway?"

"Approximately 14 hours, Sir."

Tony opened his mouth.

"Yes, I have saved the specifications, they will be ready when you return."

"How do you know me so well, JARVIS?"

“Experience, Sir.”

Tony got up and walked to his elevator. He felt slightly light-headed.

_________________________________

Natasha stepped into the lab after giving the door a light tap. “Hey, Bruce. Have you seen Clint?”

“Last I saw him was about one, no, two hours ago. He was doing paperwork. Hold on.” He took a test tube and shook it gently. “He was coughing a little.”

Natasha’s eyes widened slightly. “Coughing? He’s sick?”

Bruce turned to face her as a look of concern crossed her face. She raised her eyebrow and said, “Well?”

Bruce shrugged his shoulders and offered, “I told him to get some honey and lemon?”

She pinched the bridge of her nose and frowned. “It’s going to get even worse if we don’t help him. Did you know that he believes that if he ignores something it’s going to disappear?”

Bruce said, “Um…”

Natasha continued, “He fractured his arm once. Hairline. He actually sneaked out of medical without even getting it looked at. You know how I found out? I caught him trying to set it himself. In the bathroom. _With toilet supplies._ ”

At the look of horror that crossed Bruce’s face she smiled with fondness at the memory. Regaining her composure, she said “We should find him. Before it gets worse.”

She waited for Bruce to lock up the lab before heading towards the elevator. They were halfway there when a blond figure rushed past them, accidentally knocking into Bruce.

“Sorry! Has anyone seen Tony? He wasn’t in the workshop I thought he’d –”

Natasha tapped him on the shoulder. “We’re heading up, Steve. He’s probably in his bedroom.”

Steve caught his breath and smoothed out his shirt, only to see Bruce and Natasha motion towards the elevator.

He panted, “Sorry about that, Bruce. I was just. Um. In a hurry.”

“No problem, Steve,” he replied as the elevator doors slid open.


	2. Chapter 2

Clint was jolted awake by a bout of heavy coughing that left him gasping for air as he clutched at his chest. Gripping the fabric of his shirt, he willed himself to take a deep breath, only to continue coughing roughly. He sat back against the headboard, taking short, shallow breaths to prevent the cough from coming back. He attempted to swallow. _Bad idea_. The croak that was unleashed from his throat was extremely similar to that of a dying animal and he grabbed at the blanket hastily to muffle the sounds he didn’t want anyone else to hear.

With no small amount of effort he finally managed to wheeze out, "JARVIS, where are *cough* the other Avengers?"

"They're currently at the common floor, Agent Barton. Is there anyone specific you’re looking for?"

Clint tried to reply but was stopped by another bout of coughing. He staggered towards his bathroom, gulping down some water as soon as he reached the sink. Clearing his throat, he wiped his face quickly and headed towards the kitchen.

_What was that Bruce said. Honey and lemon?_

_________________________________

Tony woke up with a splitting headache. There was an incessant pounding in his head that slammed into his brain with every heartbeat. Every bone in his body seemed to ache and felt like they were filled with lead. He willed himself to move a muscle, to wiggle a toe, or even twitch a finger, but for some reason he could not get his body to move a single inch. He groaned softly, “JARVIS, meds, I need something.”

“Sir, I cannot get a bot to come upstairs. According to security measure 45-A, the elevator requires your retina scan before it can be opened.”

“Tell me JARVIS, Did I just input a security measure that _came back to bite me in the ass?”_

“It would seem that way, Sir. May I suggest heading to the kitchen? It is the shortest distance towards a remedy. There are a few medical supplies available in the cabinets.”

Upon hearing that, Tony rolled off the bed with a monstrous effort while simultaneously grabbing and slipping on the hoodie that was lying on the other side of the bed. He pulled on the hood and began shuffling out of the bedroom, not even bothering to put on his slippers.

_________________________________

"Staaarkkk..." He heard a rough voice call out as he was halfway towards the aforementioned kitchen with the medical cabinets.

Tony shook his head a few times, wondering if he was hallucinating. He ignored the voice and changed direction, heading towards the lesser used recreation room where he could see a couch. His legs felt like they were going to give out under him and the kitchen looked just a little too far right now. He had taken a few steps when the voice called him again. Feeling slightly freaked out, he began shuffling faster, pulling his hood lower over his face. He practically collapsed onto the couch in the room, his face smashing into the upholstery.

His first thought was, “Well _that_ was exhausting _,”_ before thinking, “Why the fuck did I choose _leather_ for this couch.”

He was starting to find it a little difficult to breathe with his face pressed up against the seat of the couch, but the amount of energy needed to even move was huge, causing him to groan in misery. All he could do at that point was roll his head from side to side instead.

Without any warning a hand grabbed at his shoulder, but he could barely summon any energy to even move, he was _that_ weary.

His voice was muffled as he said, "Doom? Hydra? Whatever. You got me. I surrender."

"Staaarkkk..." the voice said hoarsely.

Tony shifted his head a little such that his cheek was on the sofa, and he saw a crop of brown hair from the corner of his eye.

"Barton..." He sneezed, a sudden one that caused his neck to snap back painfully.

Summoning the last of his strength he got up, sitting up straight on the couch. Blinking dazedly, he gestured with his head to ask Clint what he wanted. The other man didn't reply as he sat heavily onto the couch. His eyes were bloodshot, and he too was wearing a hoodie even though it was 30 degrees in the tower.

They looked at each other for a moment before they both fell back, staring up at the ceiling.

He said with a sniff, "What do you want, Barton."

"Not so loud my head *cough* fucking hurts."

“Why are you here.”

“Hiding. Don’t let the rest *cough* find us.”

Tony tried to lift his hand up to gesture something but he failed miserably and his hand dropped back down onto the couch, landing with a thump. He nudged – with a considerable amount of effort – Clint’s shoulder before saying, "We need meds. I got *sniff* some in the *sniff* kitchen.”

The other man didn't even answer instead letting his head fall to the side, landing on Tony's arm. It hit his bicep painfully, but Tony couldn't even get himself to complain. Clint's head was radiating warmth, he could even feel it through his hoodie and it was pretty comfortable. He leaned down slowly and rested on Clint's head, feeling the warmth flow through him.

He mumbled, “This stays between us, Barton. This will be the first and last time I _ever_ sleep with you.”

Clint gave a barely audible reply. “Don’t deny that you love it, Stark. And you’re too *cough* loud. Shut up or they’ll find us.”

Then there was only silence as both men succumbed to their exhaustion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, this part is the main gist of the prompt.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been twenty minutes since they had started their search, and there was only one place left to check. They strode to the lesser used rec room, used usually when there had been a fight and the team needed to cool down. They were not prepared to see two figures cuddling on the couch. Clint was lying in Tony’s lap, his chest rising and falling slowly with a hand placed over his mouth. Tony was leaning back on the sofa, his breathing ragged and uneven as he sniffed a few times. His hand was placed on Clint’s stomach, resting on it.

“Well. Look what we have here.”

“Sh, Bruce. Don’t wake them let me take a photo.”

“Natasha, don’t –”

“Relax, Cap. It’ll be for my eyes only.”

Steve smiled with amusement. “Well, I was going to say don’t forget to send it to me.”

The trio started laughing.

Tony started to stir, his eyes shooting open by the sudden commotion. He felt pinned down, trapped by an unknown force. The surprise he felt when he saw Clint lying in his lap was so huge he actually froze for a moment. Then came a hand on his forehead, feeling for his temperature.

He didn’t have any energy to protest. “Will the person who’s touching me, please *sniff* stop.”

“Come on Tony, you need some proper rest.”

Tony closed his eyes at the sound of Steve’s soothing voice. “Anything you want my Captain.” He couldn’t find it in him to make a joke at this moment. He sneezed again, and the movement caused Clint to wake up with a look of annoyance.

After Clint had moved off him and he had made his snarky comment for the situation – _finally had enough of my thighs Barton?_ – He let Steve support him as they walked back to his room, borrowing the other man’s strength because a combination of the flu and _Steve_ was really too much for Tony to handle.

After a while he let himself zone out, causing a small amount of surprise when Steve stopped and let go of him. The sudden loss of support and his currently shit reflexes caused him to sway a little unsteadily, and he felt a little woozy until Steve caught him from behind to envelop him in a hug.

Tony turned into a melting puddle of goo at that point and he let himself slide down, causing Steve to say with some worry, “Okay I think someone really needs medicine. Hold on a second. Hey, Tony, come on the bed’s here, get some sleep okay? I’ll be back soon.”

For a brief moment Tony felt himself get lifted off the ground, before he was placed onto a soft bed with blankets being pulled over him. He fell asleep with the feeling of Steve’s kiss pressed into his forehead, the ache in his bones feeling less apparent.

_________________________________

Clint was awoken by his pillow shifting uncomfortably under him, causing him to cough and tense up as someone pressed a small round thing into his hand.

“It’s just a lozenge, relax,” he vaguely heard Bruce saying. Clint could practically _hear_ the ‘I told you to drink the honey and lemon why didn’t you just listen’ subtext running through Bruce’s voice. He got up slowly, clenching his teeth as his throat started feeling like it was on fire.

Tony murmured, “Finally, had enough *sniff* of my thighs Barton?”

Clint was aware that replying would probably cause the jabbing pain to worsen, so he popped the lozenge in his mouth and started sucking it before flipping the bird to Tony. The coolness that flowed over his aching throat when he swallowed the dissolving sweet was so pleasurable that Clint actually wanted to hug Bruce for giving it to him. He looked around, and spotted Natasha’s phone aimed directly at him.

He cursed, “What the hell, Tasha! Delete that you asshole!”

Or at least that was what he tried to do because all that came out from his mouth was, “Wha –“ before he was stopped by a bout of violent coughing. From the side of his eye he could see Steve bringing Tony out of the room.

Natasha gave him a smirk and said, “Don’t strain yourself, Clint.” Then she stared him dead in the eyes. “Next time the doctor gives instructions, I’d suggest listening to them.”

Bruce mercifully kept his mouth shut as he handed a steaming mug over. With a quirk of his mouth he said, “Honey and lemon.”

Natasha gave him a look that said ‘if you don’t drink it I will go over there and force it down your damm throat myself.’

He poured the liquid down his throat, marvelling at its taste. He grinned at the cup and managed to say, “That was way better than what I imagined.”

Then more softly, “Thanks.”

He supposed having people to look out for him wasn’t so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
